Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Takes Position in Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 219,716 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,804,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned 0.91% of Barrett Business Services at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 63.0% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the period. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 152.6% during the fourth quarter. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 131.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Barrett Business Services

In other news, EVP James R. Potts sold 3,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $132,620.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,035 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,330. This trade represents a 9.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Anthony Meeker sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.85, for a total transaction of $454,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 44,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,701,168.25. This represents a 21.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 20,779 shares of company stock worth $786,233 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

Barrett Business Services stock opened at $33.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $819.31 million, a P/E ratio of 24.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.94. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.33 and a 12-month high of $49.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.63.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.04). Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 2.77% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The firm had revenue of $319.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.55 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on BBSI. Roth Capital lowered Barrett Business Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of Barrett Business Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Barrington Research set a $44.00 target price on shares of Barrett Business Services in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Barrett Business Services Company Profile

Barrett Business Services, Inc (NASDAQ: BBSI) is a professional employer organization (PEO) headquartered in Northridge, California. Founded in 1971 by Barrett K. Levesque, the company provides comprehensive human resources outsourcing solutions to small and mid-sized businesses. Through its consultative model, Barrett Business Services helps clients streamline administrative processes, mitigate regulatory risk and focus on core operations.

The company’s core offerings include payroll administration, employee benefits management, workers’ compensation and risk management services.